


The Ace and the Hardcase

by FiredUpAuthor, minnieears



Series: Catastrophe Clones [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, I am bad at sports but I am trying, I changed the name but this is literally a soccer fic written by someone who has never played soccer, I dont know what I'm going, I just want to love all the clones and be happy doing it, I promise, I was challenged to write a non painful fic, Soccer, Strangers to Idiots to Lovers, but its in space so I can get away with it, there will be no pain, this is basically the plot to like cars, this is totally me just vibing to the clone wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:54:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29481777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiredUpAuthor/pseuds/FiredUpAuthor, https://archiveofourown.org/users/minnieears/pseuds/minnieears
Summary: Entertainment is hard to come by throughout the Clone Wars. As such many of the citizens of the Republic turn to sports in order to fill their evenings with some semblance of normalcy. This is what happens when the biggest sports fan in the galaxy, Hardcase, meets his idol
Relationships: Hardcase (Star Wars) & Reader, hardcase - Relationship
Series: Catastrophe Clones [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040209
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So one of my lovely regulars Hufflepuff Tano has challenged me to write one fic without traumatizing any of my clones or their girlfriends, so I present to you Ace
> 
> She will not fall off of a cliff, get tortured in front of her boyfriend, have a secret baby, get blackmailed, get kidnapped, manipulated, abandoned, severely injured or killed off... even though that's kinda my entire MO

Second quarter started, the arena around us was absolutely electric with excitement. I eyed the rookie, noting that she appeared to be hesitating as she slowly rolled the ball under her foot. I sighed, she was going to lose us the match if she played it safe again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Goals notice the hesitation as well. Her nod telling me that it was time to call our time out. 

The ref blew his whistle, my girls coming to huddle up.

“We’re up right now,’ I started as everyone joined “I want ful offense, got it Rookie?”

“I-”

“Ace, go easy on her,” Goals snapped at me, her eyes flashing. “We’ll get the win.” 

“We need to start the season strong if we’re going to get the title,” I snapped back. Around me the girls all groaned. We had been annihilated last year, our team making headlines as the biggest joke in the league. 

Coruscant Collapses. 

Coruscant Cherfers get Crushed. 

It was embarrassing and I was not about to deal with that again. This year we would prove ourselves as the best team in all of Reccos.

I would be the youngest MVP in the history of the sport. 

THe huddle broke and we all returned to our positions. THe whistle blew and Rookie was off, her hair flying behind her as she all but launched herself down the turf. I nodded, noting that the forward tailing me was distracted. I took the opportunity and managed to secure the ball from Rookie, completing the pass and scoring my fifth goal of the night. 

In the stands there was a loud cheer as my anthem began playing over the crowd. THe chants of my name never got old. The Captain from the other team ran at me, her eyes flashing as she began shouting. Without fully processing her actions, I matched her place, screaming obscenities in the woman’s face as the refs attempted to pull us apart. 

The stands began screaming as the coaches grabbed us, pulling the pair of us apart and the refs began discussing punishment. 

“You’re going to get yourself ejected,” Coach snapped, pulling me towards the bench. “You may be the best but you’re not going to get anywhere with your temper.”

“She started it,” I snarled, pulling my arm from the woman’s grasp. “Teach the other teams to stay out of my way and then we won’t have a temper to contend with.”

The coach opened her mouth to respond just as the ref began announcing their conclusions.

Ejected. 

Cursing I walked across the pitch, purposely making a scene as I always did when a call went against me. I purposely walked directly past the ref, pausing to make a crude gesture behind the woman. A second flag was thrown in my direction, causing my entire time to roll their eyes in my direction. 

I had been in this game longer than normal, I needed my break after all. Reaching the locker room, I immediately turned to the coverage of the game. I may have gotten thrown, but I still cared about the outcome. Opening night defines the season, you could not have a good season without having a good home opener. 

“Once again Ace, Captain of the Coruscant Cherfers, has been ejected from the game with minutes left on the clock,’ the announcer stated, an image of me telling the ref where she could shove her call paused behind the man. “Officials are saying that the team will be fined for her crude outburst following the ruling.” I groaned. No sooner had the announcer returned to the coverage of the game than my link was vibrating on my hip.

“You’re not going to have a career if you keep this up,” my manager, Stells, snapped at me, before I could even speak. I sighed. 

“Looks to me like I have one already,” I snapped. 

“Just remember, you’re meeting with another GAR group tonight,” she snapped. “Play nice.”

“Why am I doing that again,” I asked, irritated that I was once again on the receiving end of that particular punishment. “Half of them don’t even know what Reccos is.”

“Because you look like a complete nerf herder out there and I am trying to make you seem human,” she snapped. 

“Why would I want to appear human, I'm the Ace,” I snapped. 

“Just smile for pictures and thank them for their service,” she snarled, ending the conversation. Sighing, I turned back to the coverage just as the Rookie scored a final goal at time. I cheered as the girls ended the night, noting that neither team had their captain for the traditional handshake. Instead our Coaches shook hands as the teams returned to their respective locker rooms. 

Goals was the first one in, throwing her gear at me, 

“Can you make it a single game without making a scene,” she snapped, her padding hitting me as she came to sit beside me on the benches. I shrugged my shoulders slightly, pulling out a clean jersey for the meet and greet.

“I bring the entertainment,” I responded, pulling the smooth fabric over my head and removing my shin guards. “I sell the tickets.”

“Us winning sells tickets,” my friend snapped, her tone shifting to a sigh as she noticed me changing. “Another GAR event?”

“Yeah, Stells set up one after each home game for the entire season,” I grumbled. “Tonight is some crew that helped with that Senator drama.”

“The 501st Legion,” Goals reminded me. “I hear they’re the best there is.”

“Yeah well, I think I have five of them coming for photos,” I shrugged, grabbing my gear bag. ‘Are you going to be here at first light for the run?”

‘Wouldn’t miss it,” she smiled, stretching her arms over her head. ‘Have a winning streak to maintain.”

“And don’t you forget it,” I laughed, gently shoving her shoulder before moving towards the conference room which had been set up for the event. Four blue armored clones were milling around, clearly uncomfortable being in such a small room. I took a deep breath, before opening the door. 

Immediately one of the clones was chattering, the blue lines bisecting his eye catching the light. I took a small step back noticing that the overly excited man appeared to be the only one who knew who I was. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” I began, attempting to sound as though I wanted to be in this situation. “I’m ace.”

“Hardcase,’ the man introduced himself, his smile contagious. “This is Captain Rex, Fives and Jesse.” I nodded to each of the men in turn, noting that Jesse and Fives appeared to be stifling laughter at Hardcase’s obvious excitement. The Captain on the other hand appeared reserved, watching as the man began reciting my statistics to me.

“Forty seven goals-”

“Forty eight,’ i corrected, with a small smile “They always forget to include the one's in overtime.”

“Of course,” Hardcase laughed. 

“You can tell him to stop,” Jesse said to me as Hardcase continued to ramble. ‘He talks about you constantly, as though you know each other. 

“Yeah, he gets annoyed when we’re on missions during a game,” Fives continued for his brother. I laughed at this.

“I take that as a compliment,” I smiled, finding that I quite enjoyed Hardcase and his obvious crush on me. “Now, lets get those pictures you boys are here for.” The Captain grunted, allowing the group to pose for the droid to take some shots for us. As soon as it ended, the man excused himself, leaving Jesse, Fives and the now speechless Hardcase alone with me. The men and I continued our polite conversation. 

It was clear all three men regularly watched the sport together, though Fives admitted to being a Batuu Banthas fan and Jesse liking the Aalderan Anoobas.

They had no taste. 

As the event was ending, I found that Jesse and Fives had left Hardcase and I alone, discussing the night's game.

'What did you even say to the ref," he asked, smiling widely. "We just saw the second flag."

"I told here where she could shover her ruling,' I laughed. "I don't like being ejected because someone else decides to get in my face." Hardcase chuckled at this, his deep voice incredibly soothing to me. 

"Well, I do have one last question for ya," he appeared to blush. "The hours told me it was a dumb idea, but I was wondering if I could get your link?" I laughed at this, realizing that the clone was trying to ask me out. For a moment I considered rejecting him, I had a no dating fans policy to uphold. 

However, something about the sincerity in his eyes caused me to pause. Before I nodded and handed him a piece of paper with my information scribbled on it. 

"If that gets out to anyone I will know exactly who did it," I threatened.


	2. Ace in the Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all!
> 
> Sorry for the delay updating this one, honestly, I have no excise other than I really got caught up in the Civvie, my Wolffe x Reader fic
> 
> That being said, I have started another Wolffe x Reader work titled Wolffe-ish Desires, if you enjoy my work I would greatly appreciate if you take look at my little passion project
> 
> That being said, thank you all for your support and please let me know what you think :)

The next morning I woke to a call from my manager and the coach, insisting that I arrive at the pitch two hours early for a discussion about my behavior. With a groan, I pulled myself from the warm bed with a groan, digging through the basket of laundry I had never gotten around to folding for a clean jersey. Mornings after big games were always difficult for me. I was always sores and over tired, and if I was being honest with myself, very rarely sober. 

As I slowly began dressing, my link went off, causing me to pause. A call this early in the morning was never a good thing. It usually meant that I had been fined. I hated being fined, they made a bigger deal out of it than it was worth.

“Hello,”I greeted, cautiously, watching as a Clone Trooper materialized in front of me. The man smiled widely, his blue inkings fortunately making it easy to identify him. 

“Hope I didn’t wake you,” Hardcase greeted me. I smiled widely, pleased to be talking to someone who was not going to lecture me about my behavior on the pitch. 

“Nah, my manager had that covered,” I laughed, pulling my hair up. “What can I help you with?”

“I, uh," Hardcase paused, clearly slightly uncomfortable. “I wanted to make sure you hadn’t faked me out. Fives said-”

“I considered it,” I laughed, finding his hesitance endearing. "Figured I'd rather give you a good story."

“Well, I’m glad you decided to give me a shot,” the man laughed, his speed of speech was steadily increasing, making it difficult for me to keep up. He was the single most hyperactive man I had ever spoken to. 

“Are you coming to the match tonight,” I asked, turning to fully face him. “I can try to get you into the box-”

“No ma’am,” he shook his head, mock sadness crossing his features. “The Captain sent me back to the Resolute-”

“Why?”

“I may have accidentally thrown Fives through the wall at 79’s after he told me that you gave me a fake link,” the man shrugged, clearly already over the minor irritation. “Captain said I was on latrine duty until he gets out of the MedBay.” I laughed at this. 

“Do you often throw fully grown men through walls,” I asked, still smiling slightly. Hardcase paused for a moment. 

“Only when the mood hits me,” he responded with an eye roll. 

“Well, I was going to offer you a tour of the locker rooms if you came tonight” I laughed. Hardcase gasped. 

“So you’re telling me I could have lived my dream, but now I have to sit on the Resolute and watch from a small screen, with Jesse who only listens to the Anoobas announcers,” he groaned. I nodded, laughing slightly.

“Well, maybe if you’re nice to me I will call you after and give a play by play,” I smiled. Hardcase visibly brightened at this. 

“Can't wait,” he smiled. 

“Well, I have to run,” I laughed, realizing I was already running late. With a salute, the call ended and I quickly grabbed my bag, running out of my apartment. As I was jogging out the door, I noticed that there was an image of me on screen. 

“-the woman has been seen on multiple occasions arguing with referees,” the announcer was shouting at the man across from him. “She lacks the dignity of an MVP.” 

Rolling my eyes I exited the apartment, running the mile to the stadium so I could make it in time for my mandatory meeting. Since moving to the planet,I had found that the endless city had truly become a home to me. Whenever things were difficult,I found myself drawn to the endless streets and builds.There was something incredibly comforting about being able to disappear into the crowds.

The stadium was silent when I arrived, the girls still a few hours off from the morning warm ups. As I walked across the pitch, I noticed that the cleaning crew was still working from the night before. Entering the tunnels,I was filled with a familiar sense of excitement. I was living my dream, even if I got myself in trouble fairly often. 

The office was far too busy when I arrived. Stells was sitting glaring at me as I came to sit beside her. The team owners, managers and coaches all sat watching me.

“Your stunt last night cost us 5,000 credits,” the owner snapped at me. 

“Take it out of my pay then,”Isnapped back. 

“Already done.”

“We are concerned your conduct is building a bad reputation for the team,” the coaches interrupted. “One more outburst and we will be forced to trade you.”

“Excuse me,” I snapped. “I am the Captain-”

“A title can be changed.”

"Now, let's not be too hasty about this," Stells interrupted. "Your ticket sales skyrocketed at her little outburst last night-"Around the room the various men murmured their agreement with this sentiment. 

"Fine, last chance," the owner warned. "One more stunt like that and you'll be lucky to land a job coaching in a children's league." I nodded once at this before I was waved out of the office. The girls were already assembling in the locker room for morning drills. 

The day passed relatively quickly with warm ups, drills, lunch time and finally last minute game preparations. 

The Anoobas were easily the worst team in the entire division, having only three wins in the previous two years. By the time we reached the halfway point of the game, I had scored nine goals on them without breaking a sweat.

We were on fire and even the crowd seemed to know that there was simply no way we would go down. Game 2 of the season and already I was tasting victory. 

The mood in the locker room was one of absolute euphoria. We were unbeatable and nothing, not even the ongoing war could reach us. 

Finally arriving back at my apartment, I sat down for a moment, feeling as thought I had accomplished everything and nothing all at once. It is a strange feeling to make a small step towards a larger goal. On one hand there is the pride of doing something you never believed possible, on the other hand, there is the pressure of continuously making improvements. 

I pushed the philosophical thoughts from my mind as I dialed my comm.

"Hey there soldier," I greeted Hardcase smiling slightly. 'Did you catch the game?"


End file.
